The pre-Inca culture Chimu It was developed especially between the years 1000 and 1200, extending until the mid-fourteenth century when it was conquered by the Incas. It occupied the coastal strip of the northern zone of Peru . The Chimús were great builders as you can see in the archaeological remains of what was the capital of their culture: Chan Chan. The name of this city meant "Sol Sol" or "Gran Sol" and had around 100,000 inhabitants. It was a deeply classist society divided into four main strata: the highest was the "great lord" who lived lavishly with his court in Chan Chan, the second the caciques or "alaec" who were like feudal lords, the third were persons of prestige known as fixlla and fourth was the common people, vassals who were engaged in crafts, agriculture, fishing or trade. Still below was another human group: the slaves. Let's know 10 chilling facts about children slaughtered in Peru by the Chimú.
10 data on children sacrificed in Peru by the Chimú
1. At the archaeological site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, in an excavation of National Geographic , the remains of more than 140 children killed in a sacrifice ritual by the Chimú.
2. The Chimu surrendered cult to the Moon which they considered more powerful than the sun. The temple dedicated to her was known as Si-An, "Casa de la Luna" and it rites were held every first night of the new moon.
3. Besides the cult to the Moon, the Chimú had other gods and for the remains found it is known that it was common to offer children in sacrifice . In the Huaca de la Luna tombs have been found with the remains of nine children and six or seven adolescents.
4. Archaeologists have found indications that the Moon was being handed over to the sacrifice children under 5 years . The bodies, after the murder, were wrapped in brightly colored fabrics and were buried in the esplanades in front of the temples along with foods such as fruits and the land where they had been buried was watered with chicha. The Chimú believed that those sacrificed children would be deified .
5. The Chimú not only sacrificed children. In 1997 it was found in the area that the Chimú once inhabited another massive sacrifice. On that occasion it was about adults. They were found on the beach of Punta Lobos by an archaeological team that was conducting an investigation. They found the remains of 200 adults stabbed in the clavicle directly to the heart. They were blindfolded in the direction of the sea. Archaeologists believe that they were fishermen who were offered to the sea god in gratitude.
6. The children sacrificed in Huanchaquito-Las Llamas were killed about 550 years ago and they were between 5 and 14 years old (the majority between 8 and 12 years old). In 2011, 42 children and 76 llamas had been found in another temple in the area, but their age was much higher.
7. Children were found next to the children remains of 200 non-adult llamas (less than 18 months old) buried facing the Andes that are east of the place of sacrifice.
8. In the skulls of the children there were still traces of a red pigment made with cinnabar that was used in ritual sacrifices.
9. Both the children and the flames had cuts in the skeletal remains (sternum and ribs) that have made anthropologists and National Geographic archaeologists think that the heart of the victims was torn from the thorax once it was opened.
10. These children sacrificed in Peru by the Chimú, it is the biggest child sacrifice of which remains have been found and although we do not know the reason it is believed that it could have been for the gods to stop the torrential rains and floods caused by the phenomenon we know today as "El Niño" .
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Images: Gabriel Prieto / National Geographic,